“Sorry, but I didn’t have time to practice”

When students apologise to me for not practicing I usually respond by saying that there is no need to apologise or even feel guilty. I know their decision not to practice was not intentional and is really about their priorities. Students who struggle to find the time to practice generally just need to adjust their priorities. Now despite what many students may tell themselves this doesn’t mean giving up other important activities but it does mean giving up on time killers like TV, random Internet surfing or time wasting social media. If you don’t watch TV and only ever turn on your computer to check important emails you might be the exception but considering that the average person spends 5 hours per day with their eyes glued to a screen it’s likely you are no different. If you want to get results on guitar the only way I know how is through practice. That means putting it high enough on your list of priorities that it gets done.

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Is time really the problem?

Fast forward 5 years from now. Imagine what kind of person you want to be. Would you like to be a confident guitarist or is that not really so important to you. Now is the time to choose and it’s your actions today that will determine who you will become in 5 years from now. If you want to learn guitar, time is really not a valid excuse. If you find yourself using this excuse try keeping a diary for a week noting down how you spend your time and see if you truly have no available time. Something I have found that works really well is to prioritise what’s important to you and do those things first. As an example my health comes first so each morning at 6 AM I head out for a morning workout. This ensures I get something done each day so I don’t get to the end of my day and realise I’m too tired or it’s too late to exercise. Make your guitar a priority and put it before you turn on the TV or computer and I guarantee that after a few weeks it will become a habit.